12/25/2023
Giovanni Casertano (1941–2023)
It was Prof. Néstor-Louis Cordero who took us, Arnold and Sara Hermann, to his dear friend’s home in Naples, Italy, to discuss Gianni’s contribution to our 2007 conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina—“Parmenides—Scholar of Nature,” which was included in the published Proceedings.
We couldn’t agree more with Néstor Cordero's moving words: “In the name of our fellow Eleatic citizens, a touching tribute to our dearest Gianni, who, ‘absent, will always be present.’"
We have taken the liberty of translating Prof. Stefania Giombini's heartfelt obituary into English.
"Dear friends,
many of you will have already learned of the death of our Gianni Casertano. Gianni was a tireless researcher and a true friend to all of us: he leaves a huge void in our community, which will never fail to remember him and be enriched by his fruitful studies.
Below you will find the message in his memory that we spread on our Fb page after learning the news and that we like to share here as well.
A special thought to Lidia Palumbo, a member of the Program Committee of Eleatica, a direct student and dear friend of Gianni.
Best regards to all of you, ps: attached [a photo] from our last Eleatica (September 2023).
At the age of 82, John Casertano has left us. A member of the College of Honorary Citizens of the Ancient City of Elea, in May 2011 Casertano delivered for Eleatica the magisterial lectures entitled "From Parmenides of Elea to Plato's Parmenides." One of Italy's best-known and most influential Platonists, Casertano was a full professor of History of Ancient Philosophy at the University "Federico II" of Naples and a Visiting Professor at many universities in Europe and America. The international recognition of his studies and in particular his connection with the dynamic South American environment came to fruition in 2012, when he was awarded a Doctorate in Philosophy honoris causa at the University of Brasilia. The author of hundreds of publications, his studies in ancient philosophy focus mainly on Plato and the Presocratics. Among Casertano's earliest interests was, precisely, Parmenides of Elea, to whose study he devoted his first publications, up to the celebrated 1979 book. "Parmenides: method, science, experience." The work, which has become a classic in Parmenidean studies, anticipated (and inaugurated) that awakening of interest in Parmenides' science that would occur only decades later, an awakening that would entail a real paradigm shift in Eleatic studies. His connection with the Cilento area was also strong: as he often recalled, as a young man he had begun teaching in Vallo della Lucania, in a high school with the significant name, "Parmenides." Casertano was admired not only for his valiant studies but also for the gifts of his personality and humanity. He was distinguished by a lucid intelligence, great culture and above all by his refined irony. "Gianni" was a great friend of the Eleatica group and an acknowledged teacher from the very first moment. He will be missed by all of us. We join, therefore, in the grief of his relatives, friends and students, who, like us, loved him."
